-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- The long-rumored Facebook phone might finally be ready to make its debut .

The company is expected to announce a new HTC smartphone running a special Facebook-centric version of Android on Thursday , according to numerous rumors and leaks on tech sites and major publications including The New York Times , The Wall Street Journal and 9to5Google .

Expanded smartphone integration is a logical step for the social media company , which has been working hard to increase its mobile presence and make more money off of mobile advertising .

The only official hint doled out by Facebook so far is that the announcement has something to do with Google 's Android mobile operating system , with the invite asking press to `` Come see our new home on Android '' at its Menlo Park , California headquarters .

Rumors of a Facebook phone have been swirling for years , but CEO Mark Zuckerberg has repeatedly denied the company was `` building '' a phone , saying Facebook was not interested in becoming a hardware company .

Those carefully worded denials should still stand . If rumors prove true , Facebook has n't built a phone , it 's just partnered with a phone manufacturer to place its service and apps more front and center on a typical Android smartphone .

That device is expected to be an HTC 4.3-inch smartphone called the HTC First that bears a passing resemblance to the iPhone , comes in multiple colors , and packs in the usual mid-range specs at moderate price . There does n't seem to be much that 's exceptional or new about the hardware itself beyond the Facebook makeover .

Screens shots that purportedly show the new Android homepage , possibly called Facebook Home , show buttons along the top for common Facebook actions , such as updating a status , posting a photo or checking into a location , and icons for the major Facebook apps including Instagram and Messenger in the center of the screen .

Facebook might also release a similar new standalone Facebook Android app for all Android phones .

The homepage retooling would expand Facebook 's reach beyond the standalone Facebook app , spreading its presence into more parts of the smartphone experience . People would end up spending larger amounts of time using the social network 's features , in turn giving Facebook more opportunities to collect data and serve up relevant ads .

Smartphone users are already checking Facebook an average of 14 times a day , according to a recent survey by IDC . Facebook was the most popular mobile app across platforms in 2012 in the U.S. according to comScore , and in January more people were checking Facebook on their mobile devices than desktop computers for the first time .

If priced low enough , a Facebook-centric phone could be appealing to Facebook fans in developing countries , where the network is popular and smartphone sales are still rising sharply . The partnership could also be a boost for Taiwanese phone manufacturer HTC , which has been struggling to keep up with smartphone leaders Samsung and Apple .

Facebook has been focusing intensely on mobile since going public in mid-2012 . In the past year it has revamped its iOS and Android mobile apps and started displaying ads on mobile devices . As a result , the company has had signficant success making money on mobile . According to a recent report from research company eMarketer , Facebook is currently the second largest mobile ad publisher in the U.S. after Google , and is expected to make $ 964.9 million in mobile ad revenue in 2013 .

This is the third major product announcement from Facebook in recent months . The first was for Graph Search , an advanced search tool for more effectively drilling down into your Facebook to network to find people and pages and companies . Last month the company unveiled a redesigned news feed that looks more like its mobile apps .

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Facebook is making an Android-related announcement on Thursday

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The company is expected to unveil a new HTC phone with additional Facebook features

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It could also debut a new stand-alone Android app